11/06/2021
How a Guatemalan doll is helping children recover from the Manchester Arena attack
A Guatemalan traditional legend about a doll is being used to help young children who were affected by the Manchester Arena attack. The dolls are part of the therapies being offered by the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation, an organisation set up nearly 25 years ago to support victims and survivors of terrorism.
The worry dolls are used by the Foundation’s caseworkers to help children to deal with their fears following their appalling experiences resulting from the attack outside the Manchester Arena. They are part of the Foundation’s proprietary clinical health approach called SENSE (see below).
The Foundation gives each child a bag of dolls as part of their support.
The Worry dolls allow children to share their sorrow, fears and worries and then hide it under the pillow at night The child sleeps ‘over the doll’ and by the morning the feelings are taken away. Worry dolls are used in child psychiatry.
When caseworkers work with children, they use a worry doll as an imaginary and trustworthy “listener.” The doll works as a ‘bridge’ between the child and adult.
The origin of the Worry Dolls (Worry People) refers to a Mayan princess named Ixmucane. The princess received a special gift from the sun god which would allow her to solve any problem a human could worry about.
The power of these simple dolls is why we've created our own version of 'Worry Dogs'
Check the range out here: https://etsy.me/3vi1GHI
